1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an automatic choke apparatus for a carburetor and, more particularly, to an automatic choke apparatus for a carburetor that is suitable for use in a general-purpose engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-2752 teaches an automatic choke apparatus for a carburetor that is designed to drive a choke valve to open and close using power exerted by an electric actuator.
Meanwhile, the automatic choke apparatus for a carburetor, which is disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-2752, sets the choke valve into a fully-closed state when the engine is stopped. For this reason, the valve shaft of the choke valve may freeze up in the fully-closed state when the automatic choke apparatus is used on a carburetor of a general-purpose engine installed in snowplow trucks and the like, which are used in an extremely low temperature, high humidity environment. If the engine is started in such a state, the amount of air becomes smaller than needed immediately after the engine is started, and the revolutions of the engine do not increase. For this reason, the engine stalls when a load is applied to the engine. This adversely affects the marketability.